Rotary valve



Apnl 23, 1929. Q R ,'QOUX 1,709,879

I ROTARY VALVE Filed Sept. 23, 192'7l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. Z3, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT i oFFlcE.

OCTAVE REN ROUX, 4OIF GARCHEFRANCE, ASSIGNOR TO MOTOR RESEARCH COM- Y PANY, F NEW YORK, N. Y.

ROTARY VALVE.

.Application filed September 23, 1927, Serial No. 221,444, and in Belgium October 2, 1926.

The present invention relates to rotary valves and more particularly to those of the type adapted'to be used in internal combustion engines for controlling the periodic feed of fuel vapors andA discharge of burnt gases. Y v

One of the objects of the inventionl is to provide a rotary valve or 'valves having specially shaped passages formed therein Which increase the operating eiciency of the motor.

Another object is to provide a special form of passage designed to facilitate the intake of fuel, and al modified form of passage for assuring a. rapid and efficient discharge of burnt gases.

Still another object is to so form the passages in the rotary valve that the pressure of the inflowing and outflovving gases serves partially as motive power for the rotation ofthe valve.

Further objects will appear `in the course of the detailed description now to be given in connection With the accompanying drawings invvhich:

Fig. 1l is an elevation, partly in section, (the section taken on line 1-1 of Fig. 4) of a cylinder head fitted With feed and eX- haust conduits and adapted to carry a rotary valve designed in accordance With one constructive embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 shows in elevation, a form of valve adapted to coact with the. cylinder head represented in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3dS of Figs. l and 4;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken alongr line -t of Fig. l.

For the salie of clearness, the invention Will lne-described as applied to a vertical single-cylinder, t-cycle engine; but it is to :be understood that the invention may, equally Well be applied, with such modifications as will be obvious to those skilledin the art,

to engines having a plurality of cylinders and operating in some other timed relation than that of the/Lcycle engine.

Referring to Figs. l to 4 of thedrawings. there is shovvn a casting el@ adapted to be mounted in the manner of a cylinder headV at one end of a cylinder (not shown), said casting comprising a machined cylindrical sleeve portion a, a domed surface b `forming one WallV of the combustion chamber, an intake conduit d1, and a discharge conduit cl2.

The axes of conduits (Z1 and Z2 lie in a common horizontal plane passing through the axis of sleeve (r and are arranged to be out of line With one another. 4ach conduit aligns exactly With a corresponding port or opening el and c2 communicating with the combustion chamber of the engine.

The cylinder head assembly is completed by a rotatable valve e suitably journalled in bearings (not shown) and driven by a chain and sprocket Wheel 1/ (Fig. 3) or by a train of gears, or in any other convenient Way at half the speed of the main crank-shaft. Valve e is formed with recesses fl and f2 which serve as passages permitting free communication periodically between feed conduit Z1 and its intakeport cl, on the one hand, and between discharge port of and its discharge conduit J2, on the other. Recesses f1 and f2, differ from those hitherto provided in rotary valves of the type being described in that, in sections taken transversely of the valve axis, they present an outline having no axis of symmetry. Preferably, each of these recesses is shaped so as to have amaximum depth at the extremity which Vfirst comes into alignment With the corresponding conduit during rotation' of the valve i. e. extremities h1 and h2 when the valve rotates in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 0. VThe depth of each recess then decreases progressively to a minimum at the extremity which is last to pass the opening of its con responding conduit. Extremities L-l and 7bL are shaped so as'to function as blades in a turbine under the action of the infioWingl and outtiowing gas currents. Preferably they are made radial, as shown in the draivings, but it is to be understood that they may be made to slope so as to form either an acute or an obtuse angle with the 'tangent plane. Thatever their slope may be, it is essential that their turbine-blade function be preserved and that they present a sharp peripheral edge l or -While a rotary'valve having substantially identical intake and discharge recesses of `the form shown for recess ,fl operates satisfactorily, it has been found that the operating eiciency may be further improvedV by modifying the shape of the discharge recess f2 in the manner shown in Fig. 3. Here f2 is in all respects the same as f1 except that asupplementary pocket is provided extending from a point counterclockxvise relatively to Y iston rinoor a )ackin' mounted in a suitable recess, may be interposed between the intake and discharge portions oit the valve to insure against leakage in either direction.

The advantages of they above described valve assembly and, more particularly, of the specially shaped intake and discharge y passages, over those hitherto constructed are (l) the piston is supplied with a large volume of Vfresh gas at the very beginning ot ythe suction stroke and, simultaneously a` st-rong suction is exerted on the carburetor, (2), the burnt gases flow intov an enlarged discharge passage at the beginning of the discharge strokeand so expand very rapidly, the radial extremities h1, 7b2 actas tur bine blades under the pressure of both incoming andoutgoing gases and diminishv considerably the power taken from the crank-shaftv or other source of power for -rotating the valve.

The invention is not to be taken as being limited to the particular structures hereinbefore described but includes all constructions t'alling within the scope of the appended claims. y

What I claim is l. A rotary valve assembly comprising a shellradapted to carry a rotary valve element, said shell having a conduit associated therewith, and a valve element having a passage'i'ormed therein presenting a greater cross-sectional arca adjacent one extremity than the other.

y '2. A rotary valve assembly comprising a shell adapted to carry a rotary valve element, said shell having av conduit associated therewith, and a valve element having a passage iornied therein presenting a progres- Vsively increasing cross-sectional area between points adjacent the-extren'iities thereof.

3. A rotary valve assembly comprising a shell adapted to carry al rotary valve element, said shell having a conduit associated therewith, and a valve `element rotatably mounted Vin said shell, said valve element having a passage so formed therein'that any section taken at rightangles to thenaxis of rotation fof the valve and passing through passage presents the outlines et the pas-1` sage as limitingfan'area which is asymmetric relatively to a radius bisecting the angle formed by the radii passing through the longitudinal extremities of the passage.

4. A rotary valve assembly comprising a shell adapted to carry a rotary valve ele ment, said shell having a conduit associated therewith, and a valve element rotatably mounted in said shell, said valve element having a recess iioin'icd therein progressively increasing in depth between points adjacent the circumferential extremities ot said recess.

5. A rotary valve assembly comprisingl a shell adapted to carry a rotary valve elee nient, said shell having a conduit associated therewith, and a valve element rotatably mounted in said shell, said valve elementhaving` a recess formed therein which pro` gressively increases in depth between points adjacent the circumferential extremities ot said recess, and means operative to rotate the valve in the direction of increasing depth of said recess.

6. A rotary valve assembly comprising a shell adapted to carry a rotary valve element, said shell having a conduit associated therewith, and a valve element rotatably mounted in said shell, said valve element having a recess 'formed therein presenting a wall which successively is of progressively diminishing, then of increasing and finally oi diminishing depth in passing from one extremity oit the recess to the other.

7. A rotary valve assembly con'iprising a shell adapted to carry a rotary valve element, said shell having a conduit associated therewith and a valve element rotatably mounted in said shell, said valve element having a recess formed therein part oi whose wall increases progressively in depth, another part of the wall being in the torni oi a pocket of greater depth than that portion of the wall which progressively increases in depth.

,8. A rotary valve assembly comprising a shell adapted to carry a rotary valve element,*said shell having a pair oit' conduits associated therewith, and a. rotary valve element rotatably mounted in said shell, said rotary valve element having recesses formed in the periphery thereof positioned so as to align with said conduits duringr rotation ot the valve element, one of said recesses having a wall which progressively increases in depth between points adjacent the cii^cumliei'ential extremities thereof.

9. A rotary valve assembly comprising a shell adapted to carry a rotary `valve element, said shell having an intake conduit associated therewith, and a valve element rotatably mounted in said shell, said valve elementY having a recess formed therein whose wall presents one portion which. progressively increases in depth between points adjacent the extremitiesr of said recess and another portion which-forms an angle with the peripheral surface of the valve element. l0. A rotary Valve assembly comprising a shall adapted to carry a rotary Valve ele- V ment, said shell having an intake conduit associated therewith7 and a valve element rotatably mounted in said shell, said valve element having' a recess formed therein Whose wall presents one portion which progressively increases in dcpth between points adjacent the extremities of said recess and another portion disposed substantially radially to the peripheral surface of the valve element. i

1l. A rotary valve assembly comprising a shell adapted to carry a rotary valve element, said shell having a pair of conduits associated therewith, the axes of said conduits being?r spaced along the longitudinal axis of theishell, and a rotary valve element having independent recesses formed in theY periphery thereof positioned so as to align independently with one of said conduits during rotation of the valve element, one of said recesses having` a Wall which progressively increases in depth between points adjacent the circumferential extremities thereot.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

OGTAVE RENE ROUX. 

